Buy it... if you seek the vastly superior music that inspired the
revolution of the synthetic blockbuster score concept in the late
1990's.

Avoid it... if you're part of the mutiny among score fans that has
rejected Hans Zimmer's revolution on a matter of principle, regardless
of the strengths of his initially successful re-definition of the
genre.

EDITORIAL REVIEW

FILMTRACKS TRAFFIC RANK: #44

WRITTEN
9/24/96, REVISED 1/17/08

BUY IT

(9.99)

Zimmer

Crimson Tide: (Hans Zimmer) If any man thought that
Crimson Tide would make a good date movie, then either he had an
extremely rare breed of woman or, more likely, he failed to get laid
that night. Submarine thrillers appeal to a very specific subsection of
the movie-going public, and narrowing the target even further is the
Tony Scott/Jerry Bruckheimer style of machismo that saturates every
moment of Crimson Tide. That said, this film is quite
entertaining, floated entirely by remarkable performances by Gene
Hackman, Denzel Washington, and even Viggo Mortensen. The script poses
the unrealistic scenario of an American submarine caught in the
uncomfortable position of not knowing if it has been given the order to
launch its nuclear weapons, and a mutiny divides the two top officers as
they argue about whether or not to launch. Tension between Hackman and
Washington's officers address underlying racial prejudices, allowing
them to act and, in some cases, overact with conviction. The success of
the film is owed in part to the score by Hans Zimmer, who had just come
off of his Academy Award win for The Lion King. He had dabbled
with the large-scale merging of orchestra, choir, and synthesizer in
previous scores, including the popular Disney venture, but the scores
that would largely point Zimmer in the right direction for Crimson
Tide would be Backdraft and Beyond Rangoon. While
Crimson Tide conveys an entirely different personality from those
previous (and both very strong) scores, the techniques with which Zimmer
executes his aquatic score are related in several ways. When you think
about Crimson Tide in retrospect, it's hard to remember (or
imagine, for younger listeners) the blockbuster scores in the generation
before the Zimmer and Bruckheimer revolution. The masculine, synthetic
style of Crimson Tide has been so influential in defining the
sound of the countless Media Ventures/Remote Control production house
scores that have come since that it's somewhat awkward to realize that
all that electronic bravado derives from Crimson Tide, the first
and greatest score of their kind.

Indeed, whether you like it or not, Crimson Tide
was a revolutionary piece of music. It was the right score for the right
film at the right time. Imitations of the same sound, occasionally from
Zimmer himself, have proven obnoxious in different concepts. But
Crimson Tide is defined by its testosterone, both in the acting
performances and the dark technical edge to the pitching sets built for
the film, and as such, Zimmer's brooding electronic action is an
essential and perfect match. When Crimson Tide won the
Grammy award for "best soundtrack of the year" in February of
1996, the new sound was affirmed as boasting a sudden mainstream
popularity. A man whose career had been followed affectionately by many
of the same soundtrack fans that collected strictly orchestral works
(along with the recently found Disney enthusiasts) was suddenly the hero
of a whole new breed of film score collector. That Crimson Tide
spawned a fresh generation of fans for Zimmer's newest blend is still a
good thing, despite the fact that many of these collectors have melded
into the worst fanboys of the soundtrack community. Regardless of your
opinion about the direction that Crimson Tide sent the industry,
it's a remarkably effective score. The combination of synthesizer,
orchestra, and choir is much shorter on the orchestral end of the scale
this time, with the obvious organic elements mostly limited to solo
performances on trumpet and acoustic guitar. There is speculation about
the degree to which Zimmer employed an orchestra to provide depth to his
synthetic samples, but given that the score's fuller pieces sound
largely synthetic anyway, that ratio is likely unimportant. Performances
of the title theme do seem to have authentic strings and brass to offer,
but the fact that each section plays completely in unison (don't come to
this score looking for intelligent use of counterpoint) somewhat
cheapens their contribution. The choral ensemble, recorded in London, is
heavy on the male end of the spectrum and is typically heard during one
of Zimmer's plentiful adaptations of the tradition sea-hymn "Eternal
Father Strong to Save." The choral ensemble often performs in the lowest
depths of the male voices, establishing another typical sound for a
Media Ventures score.

While the score may seem on the surface to be
mono-thematic, the dominant title theme is joined several other ideas
that Zimmer returns to regularly. That title theme is a hymn that
respectfully builds momentum in its two fullest statements, combining
the deep choral performances with an extremely powerful electronic bass
rhythm of chopping string effects and (likely) synthetic brass sampling.
It is featured prominently three times in the film, carrying two of
those three scenes by itself. Listeners are introduced to the theme,
representing the ship and, more interestingly, the bravado of Hackman's
captain, during the boarding sequence when the captain rallies his men.
Every good submarine film needs its heroic "sailing from port" scene to
feature an outstanding thematic statement, and the use of the title
theme during the ship's sunrise departure is equal to Michel Legrand's
early sailing scene music in Ice Station Zebra (though worlds
apart in style, of course). Later in the film, the theme receives a
victorious burst as the ship avoids crush depth and the crew celebrates
(heard on album at the end of "1SQ"). A final concert arrangement of the
theme accompanies the last scene of the film (as the captain departs
with his ridiculous little dog) and the opening of the end titles. Of
the secondary themes, the most attractive is a noble idea likely meant
to represent Washington's executive officer and his sense of morality.
Heard on acoustic guitar as the officer leaves his family (before the
first main theme performance on the album in "Mutiny"), this theme is
usually the domain of Malcolm McNab's trumpet solos. A short, lonely
statement is heard at 18:00 into "Alabama" and, with far more class, the
theme gracefully segues into the film's epilogue at the outset of "Roll
Tide." A motif for the act of the mutiny itself is a recurring idea that
opens with a simplistic, alternating minor key rhythm at 15:15 in
"Alabama" (with almost a touch of Toys to it), and is featured
more fully at 17:00 and 19:00 into the same cue. A singular "decision"
motif in the form of a menacing choral crescendo is heard in both
"Alabama" and "Roll Tide," highlighting a scene when Mortensen's
character chooses sides in the mutiny.

All of these themes, interestingly, are arranged by
Zimmer to appear in the last cue of the film and album. From the trumpet
solo for the executive officer at the outset of "Roll Tide," Zimmer
proceeds with the obligatory main theme performance but then follows it
with variations on the decision-making motif and the mutiny theme
(though this last one is considerably softer in tone here). Finally, he
closes out the credits with the standard choral performance of "Eternal
Father Strong to Save," which serves as another theme --one of hope--
throughout the score. As far as listenability is concerned, Zimmer
doesn't allow much time to transpire at any moment in the score without
referencing one of these aforementioned themes and lesser motifs. There
are a few minutes of grinding electronic ambience that is difficult to
enjoy album, mainly from the first half of "1SQ," but a cue like
"Alabama," despite its 24-minute length, manages to maintain your
interest in its less spectacular moments. The variety of sound effects
used to create rhythms or simply as individual accent pieces is another
point of interest. In their softer rhythmic incarnations, a companion to
the tense conversational moments in the film, the effects are typically
driven by a throaty performance by either a shakuhachi flute or pan
pipes. There is some speculation as to which it is; the performances
suggest the shakuhachi, though Zimmer had just made great use of pan
pipes in The Lion King and Beyond Rangoon. There's also
speculation that they may be completely synthesized. The array of
tingling, swooshing, and zapping sound effects is a highlight of the
score. They foreshadow the kinds of sounds that Graeme Revell and Craig
Armstrong would utilize in coming years, and they're often mixed in an
echoing effect to much the same degree that Basil Poledouris
accomplished with The Hunt for Red October. In an underwater
setting with reverberating sounds, the echoing seems like a natural and
logical use. A balance between drum pads and live percussion (led by
lengthy progressions of deliberate snare rips) usually enhances the bass
realm of the soundscape. A clanging chime is a somber accent to several
weightier scenes.

Overall, Crimson Tide is a remarkably effective
and obviously influential score. On album, however, there are several
issues to contend with. The mix is a bizarre combination of extremely
dry synthetic blasts in the forefront and the meandering choir at a wet
distance. A good example of this sound discrepancy exists at 14:30 into
"Alabama," where the choral performance of the decision motif is
accompanied beautifully by echoing sound effects, only to yield to a
stubbornly mixed, bass-heavy presentation of the mutiny theme. The two
primary title theme performances do benefit from the addition of a
little reverb back into the mix, if you're equipped to do so at home. As
with most Zimmer scores, don't expect what you heard on the album to
match the mix you heard in the film. The most problematic aspect of the
album is Zimmer's preference to have his music heard in lengthy
suite-like formats. In this case, Media Ventures regular and composer
Jeff Rona rearranged the score into four lengthy cues (with one choral
presentation of "Eternal Father Strong to Save" occupying the whole of
the only short cue), one of which is 18 minutes in length while another
is 24 minutes. Luckily, Crimson Tide is a score that tends to
play well in extended sequences. But with thematic highlights spread
throughout both of the two longer cues, you really need --if you're a
fan of this score-- to do some editing of your own. The "Alabama" cue
alone has several changes in direction and important performances
littered throughout its length, and "1SQ" has the pivotal title theme
performance near its end. For the most part, however, the major ideas of
the score are seemingly presented in chronological order. Historically,
many fans have hoped that Zimmer and his pupils would return to the
sophisticated simplicity (how about that for an oxymoron?) of Crimson
Tide, only to be thwarted by the crashing electric guitars and the
intolerably relentless pounding of synthetic percussion in scores like
The Rock. The score for Crimson Tide, conversely, never
resorts to simple volume to accomplish its goal, and the admirable
result would go on to play a prominent role in the trailers for
Independence Day early in 1996. Regardless of where the style has
gone wrong (or tired) in recent years, Crimson Tide sails on
victoriously. *****@Amazon.com: CD or
Download

Bias Check:

For Hans Zimmer reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.97
(in 94 reviews)and the average viewer rating is 2.98
(in 272,650 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.